Editor's Note, Summer 2024

Did you know that according to the 2021 census, Canada’s population is comprised of 450 different cultural origins, and over 200 different languages are spoken at home, and yet the available ethnic print magazines can be counted on one hand? What is perhaps most interesting is that among those publications, in the last few years, two are in Serbian! I believe that is only further proof that our small nation, which has survived many centuries and lived through many turbulent times, is determined to preserve our ethno-cultural heritage and language even in the diaspora. That is, among other things, part of the years long mission of SAN, which is celebrating the ninth anniversary of its first publication this summer.
In this issue, you will have the chance to read several articles about the Serbian community after a very active spring season full of year-end concerts, jubilee celebrations, festivals, and book pro-motions. We have written about the Serbian legacy in the Repub-lic of North Macedonia; about the newest exhibit in the Histori-cal Museum of Serbia; and about the cursed ring of the Serbian queen Teodora Nemanjić. We had a conversation with professor Dr. Alek Račić on the topic of his thoughts and books written with the goal of disclosing the hushed-up truths and exposing the com-plex mechanisms that manipulate local and global events. We also have a detailed article on the bureaucratic necessities of returning to Serbia, highlighting a growing generation of émigrés who plan on returning to Serbia in their retirement, either partially or permanently.
It is hard to believe that we are already well into summer. I hope that you will have a chance this summer to slow down the pace of your life and spend some time in nature with friends and family. I always love hearing from our readers that they took a copy of SAN with them on vacation or on a trip, that they read it in planes and beaches, and sometimes we even get photos of copies of SAN in exotic or faraway places. This is how SAN was recently read in New Zealand, Fiji, Japan, Tuscany… We would love to get photos of you reading SAN in your many different locales, which you can send to sanmаgazinecontact@gmail.com, along with your per-mission that they can be published.

Toronto, July 2024
Vesna Nedić, Editor